@PsyGuy

> Lots of IB ITs cant rattle off all the LPs, lots of MYP ITs barely know hat
> the MYP is much less what the ATLs are.

Most can, but if they can't list a few (you'd need about two to answer the question), why hire them at a serious IB school, as any teacher with IB experience and a brain would be able to list at least half of them, if not all? I don't think the question is meant to quiz the candidate to see if they can list them all, but if they don't know any, that would be a serious red flag if they say they worked at an IB school. That's not to say the question is meant to elicit both complete lists.

> No its not slightly more specific, is substituting a non-douchey question
> that focuses on terminology for a douchey one that does.
> You can assume anything about recruiters and leadership its why its called
> an assumption. The recruiter leadership that asks this douchey question is
> impressed by IB vocabulary.

Yes, you can assume, but that doesn't make it true. It's a valid question if there's no hidden intention like wanting the candidate listing all of ATLs and IB learner profile traits, and I'm simply judging the question based on what is actually asked, which is how they translate IB theory (ATLs, LP traits) in classroom practice (for their use of the IB-terms in their question: read my previous paragraph). Assuming the recruiter simply wants to hear IB jargon is a guess, and in my opinion and experience a poor one.


@Thames Pirate

> Those things, while explicitly stated or
> codified in the IB theory, are also just solid practice and should have
> already come up at the interview

Yes, but perhaps it hadn't, perhaps they were at the start of the interview, and perhaps they wanted to know more. We weren't at the interview, so can't say the question wouldn't produce any new information about the candidate that hasn't been covered already.

> So yes, it's "do you buy IB theory,"

Why? The candidate already teaches IB, so it's a normal question using terms the candidate is already familiar with (or should be). There would be better questions to find out how many IB terms the candidate knows, if that was their intend.

> is just good teaching, it's not a question unique to IB beyond the jargon.

Agreed, but it's also part of IB, so valid to ask about within IB-context.

> , and do you actually practice it"

Yes, that's the reason they ask the question, to see if you can bring IB theory into classroom practice. Relevant to know for an IB school.

I might also enrol if I can free up some time, but just for the pay bump. And some schools like a Masters on your CV (sometimes for the wrong reasons), so it makes me a bit more desirable for future schools, regardless of which one it is (except if it's for a leadership positions, as PsyGuy says).

'ATLs' and 'IB learner profile traits' are such basic IB-terms that only teachers with no IB-experience at all wouldn't know them (and the interviewer probably uses them so often they might not even realise anymore that these could be considered jargon), and since the candidate would have IB-experience, it's basically asking the same question as "Give us an example how you might translate IB-theory into classroom practice", just slightly more specific.

Furthermore, you can't assume anything about the interviewer's motives. I hope (and suspect) most won't be nearly as impressed by any candidate's use of IB terminology, as by their actual example of how they translation of IB-theory into classroom practice. My experience with interviewers is that they aren't, but perhaps you've had a few douchey interviewers in the past.

The question also isn't how many ATLs and LP traits the IT can recite from memory, as an answer will typically have two or three examples of how some are translated into classroom practice, just as the question 'Tell us about yourself' doesn't mean they want to hear every detail about your childhood traumas.
If the interviewer would follow your examples by asking to name the remaining ATLs/traits, yes, then they just want to hear you recite them (and they would indeed be bad interviewers), but we can't assume they will (or won't).

So it can simply be a valid question to determine if you're able to translate IB-theory into classroom practice. You can hardly fault them for using the (widely known) terms 'ATLs' and 'IB learner profile traits' to make the question slightly more specific.

I'd say it's perfectly normal for an IB school to want to know how you translate IB-theory into classroom practice.
I wouldn't necessarily agree with @Thames Pirate that the real objective of the question would always be to find out if you know all of them (if it is, then it is indeed a douchey question), but rather how you use these IB values/approaches, and that's a relevant question for a school that wants their teachers to teach IB in a proper way.

Terminology/jargon can be used just to communicate quicker and/or more effectively, just like jargon is used in other professions, and obviously you'll hear IB terms being used at an IB school. And when someone talks about IB curriculum a lot, it's not hard to imagine they might forget that not everyone is as familiar with the terms as they are – the same happens on this forums where some members use way too many acronyms that not everyone is familiar with.
But when someone uses it (IB terminology or acronyms) to 'impress' others, then they're being pricks. If not, they're just communicating, or at least trying to with no ill intend.

Doctor wrote:
> Can you suggest some answers for my stack of index cars?

It's not a question with one answer, like asking what the capital of Uzbekistan is (Tashkent), so your answer should reflect how you teach.

Pro-tip for dealing with unexpected questions:
If you teach yourself to throw up at will, you'll always have a way of getting out of a tough question.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @Doctor
>
> Those were douche questions from someone who drank their IB koolaid that
> morning instead of coffee/tea.

Perfectly valid questions for an IB school, while I agree with @chilagringa that MYP needs lots of improvements.

@sid

Asking for myself:
Which regions would that be at the moment?

Following, as I'm in a very similar situation.

Re 2b ('alternatively'):
Only one of the schools I've worked at had foreign hires at the PR department, and that was in a city with lots of expats and with a very competitive market for ISs, so all of the top schools there had relatively big PR departments to keep enrolment up.

For an article I'm writing (and for whenever I'll be moving on in the future), can I have your input on one, some or all of the following questions:

1. What are the questions you get asked most, in almost every job interview as an international teacher?
2. What's the best question you've been asked by a school's recruiter during a job interview?
3. What's the worst or weirdest question asked?
4. What question would you ask if you were a recruiter?

And often overlooked:

5. And what questions should an IT ask the school during the interview?

Thanks in advance!

For me it's, in order of importance (starting with the most important):

- Affordable cheese and great bread (sure, every big Asian city will have at least one German bakery, but still...)

- Being able to walk around without being noticeably 'different' (extends to my children)

- Better air quality (with the occasional exception)

- Cities in Europe tend to have more personality to them, mostly because of the variety in architecture (I do really like Tokyo though)

- Easier to find the right repairperson/shop/etc., because the language is less unintelligible and written in latin alphabet (I know enough Spanish, German & French to find what I'm looking for), so less dependent on the whole local expat forum support system (but that repairperson will be quite a bit more expensive though)

- More concerts of bands that I like (Bruno Mars and Guns n' Roses will play big Asian cities, but not that many indie bands that I like do Asian tours)

- I like that in (parts of) Europe there isn't a (big) difference in pay between international teachers and the locals, especially in Africa this was sometimes very uncomfortable, and will at times make you distrustful when approached (because sometimes you will be seen as a walking ATM)

Then again, there's also plenty that's better in Asia (affordable restaurants & taxis spring to mind).
For now, I do like being in an environment that's very different from the one I've grown up in, so I'm not in a hurry to move to a Western country.

Sounds like it's all on the up and up, must be a relief.
Enjoy your time there – lots to see and do in Egypt!

> Sure you say I might be right, but always qualify that with Im probably
> wrong and youre right. I dont resort to such ego stroking, your wrong, and
> Im comfortable with that conclusion.

It's not ego-stroking, I can agree with you, can't I? It's not uncommon for people to agree.
If the turnover is indeed high for a school that size (which we don't know yet, just 'many jobs'), and they're also unwilling to share contact details (which we also don't know yet), I would agree that there's a good chance the school is not on the level.
Although, not sharing contact details could be a privacy issue, but I fear most schools wouldn't see it that way.

> I dont resort to such ego stroking, your wrong, and Im comfortable with that conclusion. "

What am I wrong about?
Sorry, I don't know what exactly you're referring to here.

Let's boil it down to one point:

Can you agree that the school having a high turnover, *might* have a different reason other than it being a dodgy school?
Or is it 100% sure a dodgy school?

If it is indeed very high (which we don't know for sure, since all the OP said "many jobs", but of course he might not know if the number of jobs advertised is high for a school of that size – I've seen several good schools that had many job openings), based on the (lack of) information we have right now, I'd say there's about a 60-70% chance (hard to pick a number, but in the ballpark) it's a dodgy school. So I'm saying you might be right. Also, I'm saying there's a chance you're not.

My main issue is that you pose that what you expect is going on, or will happen, is the *only* possibility.
I'm merely pointing out that there's also a good chance everything is on the level, and that things like a high turnover could have different reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the school. I already said it *might* be a sign of a dodgy school, but it might have an altogether different reason (school expanding, hardship in city) where the school is perfectly ok. High turnover might be a clue, but it doesn't *automatically* mean there's something wrong with the school.

Extrapolating your own experiences is fine, but it's only proof that the situation at hand might unfold the same way, it doesn't proof that it will not go differently.
Unless you know the recruiter, or (to a lesser extent) work at the school or know anyone that does or has, you're still just guessing what's going on, no matter the experience you have.

And you're telling me that a disgruntled teacher who has been let go for valid reasons wouldn't go on ISR and paint the school in a bad light by making up things? It's only human nature, unfortunately. I know about an ex-colleague of a teacher friend who was fired for inappropriate behaviour towards students (of a sexual nature), and a month later a scathing review appeared on ISR, with the exact same (and very specific) spelling mistake the former colleague alway used to make. Hard to imagine he's the only one.
Of course there are quite a few both positive and negative reviews that aren't honest. Everyone knows it, and acts accordingly.

What I write is just as much based in experience and trusted resources. That we have led different lives, have different resources, and have different demeanours (I'd say I'm an optimist and you're a pessimist)(please don't reply saying you're a realist, that's what all pessimists say) means we might arrive at different recommendations/opinions/etc.
I respect yours, and have always said you might be right. I'm just pointing out there's a chance you're not.

Saying something *is* a certain way, is an absolute. If you write 'probably is', you leave room for the possibility that you might be wrong, which is always smart when you can't be a 100% certain.

I'm not saying everything is a guess, or an opinion. I'm just saying at this point we can't be sure yet, we can only guess, and have a (strong) opinion about what is more likely. Nothing wrong with that.

Maybe someone else can weigh in, please?

Wow, where to begin?
I'll try keep it short (I usually fail at that though):

- Yes, you ARE guessing. An educated guess is still a guess. It's an opinion if we're asking for your favourite color/music/etc. In this case it's not about preference, but rather likelihood.

- Your experiences aren't more valid than those of others, and my experience is quite different than yours, so it leads to think something different. I don't extrapolate my experiences to such a degree that I think I'm sure about everything. An amount of doubt and some modesty can be healthy, and will help the OP more.

- (For instance) 20 vacancies can be a lot for a small school, but perfectly normal for a big one. Also, a school can be expanding, needing a more than usual amount of teachers. It could be located in a country where teachers don't tend to stay long (I was at a perfectly fine school in Africa, but a lot of teachers stayed only one contract due to the hardships of being in a third world country. A school having many vacancies could still have a dodgy reason, but the truth is we don't know for sure. So we're guessing.

- There are both fake positive reviews, and fake negative reviews. I would say 50/50, but perhaps even more fake negative ones, since some IT just post to settle a score. The fake positive ones are usually a response to those (although most go unanswered). Both fake kinds are usually rather easy to spot, the positive ones are the easiest to catch. But if I saw a large amount of either (positive or negative), and they seems to be honest, and are all telling the same story, then I tend to think that story might very well be close to the truth.

- If you state something as a fact in your response, you can't hide behind something like "Everything I write is just my opinion". If you make it sound like you're 100% sure of something, people tend to think you know what you're talking about and perhaps act accordingly, so it would be wise take that into consideration. And at the same time you're stating I'm wrong. How can that be, when it's just 'my opinion'? It's one or the other.
And I never said you needed my permission. I just suggested being a bit more helpful and honest by adding that you're not a 100% sure. We're here to help the OP, not to win arguments and boost our ego's.